Junhui didn't talk about the issue during our walk back to the dorm. He probably understood that I wasn't able to tell him about Mingyu and my fight without having a breakdown again and so he didn't address the topic anymore.

I was grateful for that. Actually, I was grateful for everything. Junhui had done a good job when comforting me and I honestly had no idea how to repay him for that. Nobody, besides Mingyu of course, had ever really shown that they cared about me and so the thought of having someone else by my side felt good.

Even if I was well aware that Junhui could never replace Mingyu, just knowing that I wasn't alone was an assuring feeling.

Suddenly, I thought I could do it, do what Mingyu had demanded, and found the hope that had started to disappear from my side. Just because of Junhui's encouragement, I felt much stronger.

Of course, I wasn't the happiest person in the world but at least the thought of being able to survive this whole thing crossed my mind.

And honestly, that's all that mattered.

When we came back home the members sat in the living room and held a conversation, a few snacks lying on the ground. I didn't know what was going on but by the looks of it, they seemed to have a good time since everyone was either laughing or smiling, simply enjoying their time together. 

As soon as they noticed we'd come back, they welcomed and told us to come and sit with them which Junhui immediately did. Grabbing my wrist, he indicated for me to sit down, giving me a small smile.

But I wasn't up for that, at all. I just wanted to go back into my room, to sleep and forget everything that had happened that day. Sure, Junhui being by my side throughout my breakdown had given me lots of strength, but still, I wasn't in the mood to face the other members with a bright smile. I wanted to be by myself, surrounded by silence, and clear my mind. 

This wasn't it.

Looking around the room, I realized that Mingyu wasn't there and so I concluded that he was probably in our bedroom. And just like that, my mind changed. Suddenly, the thought of being together with the cheerful members sounded great and so I sat down, trying my best not to show how upset and unhappy I was.

"Are you looking for Mingyu?", Jeonghan asked and gave me a warm smile: "Earlier, when he came back, he told us everything. He'll join us after having showered too, so don't worry. Your best friend didn't abandon you."

Wait, what?

My eyes widened at Jeonghan's words and my heart stopped a beat. Instantly, I looked around, but instead of being met with disgusted and angered faces, everyone smiled happily or at least indicated that they were in a good mood.

Something didn't add up.

"What are you talking about? What did he tell you guys?", I inquired, my voice full of worry. I was pretty sure that I would be told to leave Seventeen if our members found out about the reason for the issue between Mingyu and me and therefore, their happy and calm moods didn't make sense. Something was wrong but I had no idea what it was.

What could Mingyu have said to make everyone this cheerful? 

"About you guys reconciling, of course! He came in with the widest smile ever and told us that you're back to being friends", Jeonghan answered with a grin: "You should've seen how happy he was. It's honestly so nice to have you two back together. We were so worried about you and now that the misunderstanding is solved, it feels like we can finally be happy without having to feel bad anymore."

I was stunned. Mingyu had lied to all of them and told them we'd reconciled when in fact, the exact opposite had happened. I closed my eyes in disbelief and let out a huge sigh, totally disliking this whole situation. Whatever was going on, I knew I had to talk to Mingyu about it.

But I didn't want to.

Even thinking about having a conversation with him scared the hell out of me. Since he knew me better than I did myself, he was the best when it came to hurting and humiliating me. And putting me into a situation as uncomfortable as this was probably just another one of his stupid plans that I couldn't understand. More like, didn't want to understand.

My train of thoughts was interrupted by someone nudging me into the side and when I opened my eyes, I saw Junhui, giving me a confused expression which clearly asked for answers. I furrowed my eyebrows and shrugged my shoulders, signifying that I had no idea what was going on myself. Understanding my confusion, he nodded and turned back to the other members, probably silently telling me to do so too.

And so I did.

"So, you guys never even told us about the reason for your fight. Was it that bad?", Seungkwan questioned, looking at me with interest sparkling in his eyes. The other members seemed to want answers too since everyone stopped what they were doing and gave me the same expecting stare. But I wasn't able to tell them because everything was too ed up to be explained and Mingyu telling them we were back to being friends was a lie, too. So I had to find another solution.

"I won't tell you about that without Mingyu here", I only said, smiling innocently at the other members. 

Annoyed groans filled the room and I knew everyone had gotten their hopes up, thinking I would finally tell them. I laughed at that, because honestly, it was cute how much everyone cared about it. For some reason, I felt loved when seeing them all so interested into that topic. 

It was sweet, really.

Instead of pressing further, Seungchoel started to talk about our schedule for the next week, earning groans or cheers, depending on the different appearances we would make. Inwardly, I thanked Seungcheol for changing the topic, probably thinking he should stop the others from making me uncomfortable. Honestly, it felt nice to know just how much the other members actually cared for me, seeing their small but kind gestures which always managed to make me feel better. Even if they didn't know what was happening, they always tried their best to make me happy and I knew I could depend on them forever.

As long as I wouldn't tell them about that night and my feelings I had for Mingyu, of course. 

Speaking of Mingyu, he joined us soon after and instead of sitting as far away as possible, he seemed to have another idea when walking between Junhui and me, indicating that he wanted to sit down right there. I was stunned for a moment, before realizing that he had a good reason for being by my side.

And so I made room for him to sit down, feeling more than uncomfortable when doing so.

Mingyu smiled at me, making my stomach turn, before he sat down and put his arm around my shoulder as if it was the most usual thing in the world. I froze, my mind suddenly blank. I knew that Mingyu was doing it to delude the other members, but somehow, it was a weird feeling to be so close to him again, knowing he hated me with every fiber of his body.

It was such a familiar feeling, but at the same time, a completely new one.

"Look at you two, being all over each other again", Jeonghan cooed, making everyone turn their heads towards our side. Embarrassed, I looked away, feeling a blush creep on my cheeks.

And I hated myself for it, but for some reason, I liked how close we were, how the others looked at us with smiles on their lips, signifying their happiness about us reconciling.

For a moment, I blended out that everything was a lie and simply enjoyed to have Mingyu so close to me, to feel the warmth which radiated from his body. Slowly, I leaned against his shoulder and closed my eyes, telling myself only to stay like that for a short while. 

I smiled, because for a moment, that one moment, I felt complete bliss. I deluded myself on purpose so that just for a few seconds, happiness would replace my normally so upset and confused mind.

I don't know when exactly I fell asleep, but I must have done so at some point since the next thing I realized was my body being shaken harshly, someone calling out my name. I opened my eyes just to be met with those light brown one's I was way too familiar with. But instead of the smile that usually graced Mingyu's lips, he wore a deep frown. 

It took me a moment before noticing that I was lying on his lap. Immediately, I sat up, looking around with a rather perplexed expression on my face. The other members had left, making our living room appear pretty lonely. Still a bit sleepy, I blinked and then looked back at Mingyu: "Did I fall asleep?"

"Obviously", he only muttered and stood up, letting out a sigh: "At least you didn't up, though."

My crappy mood returned in an instant.

" up what?", I asked, my voice rising in annoyance: "Pretending to be close to you in front of our own members? What is this about, anyways? It's already enough that we're faking a friendship in front of the fans, but now even our own members? What kind of bull is this, Mingyu?"

"It's the only way for them to respect us being close in front of the cameras. Imagine how jealous they would be if they knew we're doing it because of the fanservice. They'd immediately tell the manager we're not close anymore, just so that they would get the spot we're in right now", Mingyu explained with a smirk, proud of the plan he'd come up with. I groaned. Once again, he only cared about being in the spotlight, nothing more.

"I don't think the other members even want to be in that spot. Deluding them is literally the stupidest thing we could do", I remarked, totally disagreeing with him. Mingyu just shrugged his shoulders at that, laughing slightly.

"But you liked it, though."

Of course, his words hurt and that's exactly what they were supposed to do, but instead of giving Mingyu the stunned and upset reaction he was probably hoping for, I only smiled innocently: "Yeah, of course I did. I mean, since I'm in love with you being close to you gives me an amazing feeling, you know that."

Mingyu was shocked.

He probably hadn't expected that I would talk back, especially not that I would be so blunt and emotionless while doing so. His smirk was replaced by a frown as he furrowed his eyebrows, not quite realizing yet that I'd actually admitted that I was in love with him.

I laughed. It was funny how he always played around with those words just to hurt me, but when I finally admitted loving him, he was too confused to answer. The sight in front of me was pretty amusing, if you want me to be honest. His perplexed expression was seriously cuter than I'd thought it would be and knowing that I was the reason for it made me quite happy. 

"You said you're not in love with me", Mingyu uttered after a long moment of silence. I just shrugged my shoulders at that and smirked at him, loving how I had the upper hand just like that: "Well, but you said I am so let's just go with that."

"So you are in love with me?", he questioned, disbelief showing in his eyes. I wasn't sure if he was so confused because of the fact that I was in love with him or because I had admitted it without blinking an eye, but just looking it him satisfied me completely. 

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not", I only sang, making him huff. 

And I didn't even wait for an answer anymore, but just turned around and went out of the living room, leaving Mingyu behind.

That night, I fell asleep with a smile on my lips.
______

A/N: A pretty boring chapter, if you ask me. Sorry for it being so short (and kinda ish) but I was busy watching my country play just now and so I couldn't finish the next part (are any of you guys European and watch the Championship bc if so then you probably know what I'm talking about)

Btw, I'm still laughing because literally all of you wanted to fight Mingyu after the last chapter. In this one, I love how Wonwoo is kind of confident instead of letting Mingyu's words hurt him. It's nice.

Again, thanks for reading, subscribing and leaving comments! I appreciate that so much.